Symbols
by Dawnstorm101
Summary: Probably not but just to be safe: POTENTIAL INFINITY WAR SPOILERS WITHIN. Loki has a special habit: he names people in his head. Not weird or insulting nicknames, but rather natural things that reflect their personalities. It's rather beautiful and fitting, he thinks, though he has some qualms about what they call him.


A/N: So this is my first collab! This idea was started by Tumblr's roanoaks (if you're interested, this fic is also on her AO3 account, RoanOaks, and both of our Tumblrs - I'm howlingdawn over there), and I chimed in for some of the writing. It's a pretty different format from my normal fics, but I think it's rather intriguing and hope you feel the same! This may have one or two non-Avengers characters in it - definitely one because of Deadpool, two if Black Panther isn't on the Avengers list yet - but seeing as it's mostly Avengers characters, I decided to keep it out of the crossover section.

* * *

BRUCE THE SUN

 _Bruce was the sun. He was warm and a light that gave life to everything important and bright. He was everything and nothing, for he was what most took for granted, and were most grateful for when they realized what he could do. He was the sun as a destructive force too, for he had the power to destroy planets, but he had the control not to. Even if he did, he was the light that would bring them back. He was not a beast, but he was a sun.  
_  
PETER THE STAR SPIDER

 _Peter was a star, planets could revolve around him, people see him every day, and they would never know how bright he was. One had to look closely to see just how bright he might be, and one had to be close to him to know how truly warm he could be. Even when glancing from far away, his light never dimmed. He was a star, but he was also a spider, for he could be quiet. He could be quiet, and he was able to spin webs. Peter was aware of the bright light he emitted, and he knew how to spin it._

WADE THE ERUPTING MOUNTAIN

 _Wade was a mountain, not only a mountain but he was an erupting one. One never knew when he would blow, but when he did it was hellfire and chaos. But he could control it, for he was a mountain, and mountains could never be moved. He was all in glory and he was bright but he burned, and only others who burned could ever touch him.  
_  
T'CHALLA WAS THE SKY CAT

 _T'Challa was a cat. Graceful and proud, he cared for what he cared for in ways people would not understand. He had claws and a bite he rarely used, and the ability to land on all fours no matter how far the fall. He was discreet. Not unlike a spider, but where a spider chose to be small enough to go unnoticed, or bright enough to scare, T'Challa simply belonged anywhere. To tell him otherwise was a challenge he could accept. He was the sky in that sense as well, an embodiment of protection from outer harms but also the indifference to leave people lightless and in the night should he choose.  
_

TONY THE COMET

 _Tony was a comet, a bright, burning streak in the air. Though one rarely saw its true brilliance, it lived on in memory for years. And it always came back, for it would not leave those it truly cared for. He was colorful, a beautiful that made all that saw realized he was brilliant, more than that, he could leave his mark._

STEVE WAS THE WINTER SOLDIER

 _Steve was the winter soldier, although Bucky bore the title. Steve was a soldier, carved and born of ice. He lived for the war and though he longed for the warmth of a normal life, he could never touch it. He would melt. But even ice has a warmth no one can recreate, and even ice can burn._

BUCKY WAS THE FALL LEAF

 _Bucky was the fall leaf, originally part of a tree. Green and strong it obeyed the tree's commands to keep it alive. But it fell, and though the tree lived on it caused the death of Bucky. But it still held beauty and allowed the wind to push it where it needed to go. Despite not knowing where he was, he still held strong to a resolve that made it impossible for him to crumble. Even if his colors changed and he no longer felt part of a tree; his life moved and lived on._

CLINT WAS THE STORM CLOUD

 _Clint was the storm cloud. He was dark and fierce, unleashing pointed rage. He was stubborn, determined, but he also followed the wind where it took him. His bouts of temper were often short-lived, eased by the arrival of his lighter other side: Phil._

PHIL WAS THE CALM CLOUD

 _Phil was the calm to Clint's storm. He was lighthearted, his pale greys soothing to those around him. He cast a cool shadow, providing shelter from the sun's burning rays, a layer of protection between others and the world's harshness._

WANDA AND PIETRO WERE SUNSET/SUNRISE

 _Pietro is the sunrise. He approaches quicker than you'd like, bringing with him joyful tunes and daytime energy. He banishes the darkness, encouraging you to rise and fight and play. He's pale blue and bright yellow, a blur that stirs you and leaves you grinning._

 _Wanda is the sunset. She's calmer than her elder, fraternal twin, and casts darkness across the land. But it's a fiery darkness, born of vivid hues that flare with one last bit of life before the stars come out to shine. As much as she is a death, she is also a rebirth into a different type of life._

VISION WAS THE TREE

 _Vision was the tree. He was strong and sturdy, and had wisdom. But he was still growing, still learning. He was naive but he was also old, old with the power he came with. He was a guardian of knowledge even he didn't know, and belonged in a forest surrounded by the plants and life of a world he helped create. His roots stretched deep and into the earth, which helped give him the knowledge essential to live._

FURY WAS THE DORMANT? GUARD? MOUNTAIN

 _Fury was the mountain. He was a steadfast presence, just always there. He was strong and silent and unmovable, standing firm in what he believed in. He was a massive obstacle between enemies and what/who he deigned to protect, and could rain hell down upon those enemies, be it with icy coldness, raging lava, or stony determination._

NAT WAS THE WATER SPIDER

 _Nat was the water spider, she was calm and still. Even see through if she so chose, but her wrath was to be feared. She could create waves and drown you in seconds. But she was also a spider, quiet and stalking. She could build webs from anything and create ripples with simple words. Her touch could be blessing or death, but her bite was poisonous and it would be truly only luck if you survived it._

THOR WAS THE OCEAN

 _Thor was the ocean. He roared, striking out with all his strength should he need to. He could wipe you out with hardly a thought, and was a force to be reckoned with. But he was also gentle, nurturing the lives he saved and the kingdom he ruled._

LOKI IS AN ANGEL TBH NATURES?

 _Loki was an angel of nature, though he would thoroughly disagree with being called an angel._ _Thor might've agreed with his denial, but he knew of the young boy hidden within the trickster shell, the broken little child that had only ever wanted his family's approval. Loki was unarguably nature, however, at least it was what he believed. He was unyielding, resisting anyone's attempts to control him. He was even similar in the aspect that he could destroy anything, so long as he was left unattended._

 _He was sharp and brutal alone, but when with the right person, he had a streak of something softer. Not many have seen it, but those who did were undeniably more inclined to believe him an angel. Valkyrie, for one, saw it in the way he protected their people, standing between them and his sister's army almost without hesitation. Bruce, another such person, could see it in Loki's eyes when he spoke of or saw things he cared for. Thor, of course, was privy to a far more hidden side of him, that youthful brightness that sometimes came out when the brothers were alone, a part of him somehow unscathed by all the bitter years since those innocent days. Peter saw it in the protection Loki had begrudgingly given him in the longest of battles, all because he was "Too young and only a child."_

 _Wanda heard it more than saw it when they had a moment to banter about their annoying but beloved big brothers. Tony understood it whenever he witnessed those moments with Loki where he prattled on about awful fathers and how much greater was simply for the sake of getting rid of the self-loathing he carried, he understood it because he also did it. Natasha intimately understood it as well, recognizing the particular flavor of negative memories swimming through his eyes when he glanced at the Avengers he had once attacked, in the way he echoed her own words back at her: "I have red in my ledger, and I'd like to wipe it out."_

 _Clint saw it as well, though he would rather disagree, because Loki had been in his head, in his mind, and he could feel the good coated in a coping mechanism of bad, for he truly had wanted good for Midgard, in a twisted way coaxed into him through whatever had happened to him in the void. And that, Bucky understood; he didn't know the details, but he saw that familiar look in Loki's eyes when he saw Thanos, the expression of someone whose mind had been twisted by unspeakable horrors. Steve could even admit it, when he had watched Loki save kids that no one noticed, or when he offered advice when he thought no one would notice._

 _Even Fury, ever the pessimist about human (or Asgardian) nature, saw the ex-conqueror's similarities to the other man he had taken under his wing, one Tony Stark, whose heroism, although hidden beneath sarcasm and ego, was undeniable to anyone with one good eye. Even Vision, naive as he was, could understand it once he had seen Loki risk his life for Clint, someone who would have undeniably killed him the first chance he got. Phil's belief in the prince was bittersweet, because in Loki he saw a reverse Ward, a transformation that still pained him, but this time it should go better for everyone involved. Even Thanos, the one who had ruined and hurt and tortured Loki and thought so little of him, could see it in how very strong and calm Loki remained through it all - and how the facade had only cracked once he's given Loki to his mind._

 _And, if Loki was being honest with himself, maybe he could see a teeny tiny bit of angel in himself, at least compared to such an evil being as Thanos, but it was mostly because he could see the others believing in him, and maybe it was finally time to fulfill Thor's perpetual ember of hope that Loki wasn't really evil at heart. Besides, if Loki was being honest with himself (something he rarely is), he was beautiful, and Angels were beautiful, weren't they? Maybe he didn't have a glowing halo and majestic white wings, but there was a certain appeal to the golden helmet and vivid green magic paired with the darkness he had accepted was part of him._


End file.
